Many recurring problems in agriculture involve controlling the growth of undesirable vegetation that can, for instance, negatively affect the growth of desirable vegetation (e.g., crops). A variety of chemicals and chemical formulations (e.g., herbicides and herbicidal formulations) have been developed to control the growth of undesirable vegetation in crops. While such herbicides can be effective in controlling undesirable vegetation, in many cases, herbicides can also cause injury or even kill the crops to which they are applied. To mitigate this shortcoming, safeners can be provided with the herbicide to limit the phytotoxicity of the herbicidal active ingredient to the crop.
Cloquintocet-mexyl is a safener that can be used in conjunction with various herbicides to reduce phytotoxicity to crops. Though effective as a safener, the manufacture, storage, and use of cloquintocet-mexyl containing products can present challenges owing to its sensitivity to water and its low melting temperature (i.e., 61-69° C. for technical material). When products containing cloquintocet-mexyl are prepared, stored, or used in the presence of water, cloquintocet-mexyl can undergo hydrolysis to form cloquintocet acid, and/or form a needle-shaped, crystalline hydrate that can, lead to clogged spray nozzles during spray applications and/or possibly increased levels of crop phytotoxicity.
Non-aqueous cloquintocet-mexyl formulations, such as oil dispersions and water dispersible granules, can also suffer from sensitivity to water during their preparation and storage since even small amounts of water picked up during processing and/or present in other components of the formulations can be problematic. In addition, the low melting temperature of cloquintocet-mexyl can make the manufacture and storage of solid formulations containing the safener, such as dispersible granules (DG), more difficult because temperatures above ambient temperature can cause agglomeration of the particles of cloquintocet-mexyl leading to problems with dispersion and suspensibility of the safener in cold water.
Because of the difficulties encountered with the preparation and use of cloquintocet-mexyl containing products, there is a need for improved safener compositions that are easy to prepare, flexible to use, and compatible with water.